Most of these publishers are interested in science fiction and/or fantasy. Some publish just one of these genres. Others publish many genres and types of books, science fiction and fantasy just being one genre among many.
Some are small companies, others are imprints of major publishing houses. They are not listed in any particular order.
Not all of them may be currently open to submissions. It is important to note that all of them meet the standards outlined in our guiding principles.
All of the publishers are only briefly described on this page, however if you click on the link, you will reach their website, or our full review of them. The review includes submission information and links to their websites.
Flame Tree Press
Flame Tree Press is an imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Flame Tree Press focuses on publishing speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror and crime fiction. They have good distribution in the US and the UK. I have seen their books at brick and mortar bookstores on numerous occasions. Learn more here.
Jo Fletcher Books
Jo Fletcher Books is an imprint of Quercus Publishing, the only imprint that accepts unsolicited submissions. Jo Fletcher Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, and horror books for adults. They are not interested in children’s or young adult books, or in short story collections or novellas. Read our full review here.
Bold Strokes Books
Bold Strokes Books publishes only LGBTQ books, which means that its books feature characters that are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans, and queer. They publish general and genre fiction. They offer advances to their authors. Bold Strokes is interested in publishing books that fall under the LGBTQ umbrella including literary fiction, romance novels, young-adult novels, genre novels (including science fiction and mystery), and works of nonfiction. The only genre of books they do not appear to publish is poetry. Learn more here.
The Parliament House
The Parliament House is a small eBook and print press started in 2016. They specialize in fantasy, including paranormal, contemporary, and urban. Their website is well designed, and the covers are well designed and market appropriate. They seem active on social media and more focused on recruiting readers than writers. Read our full review here.
Angry Robot
Angry Robot is a respected science fiction and fantasy publisher that occasionally dips into related genres (such as urban fantasy, steampunk, and horror). Angry Robot was originally funded by HarperCollins. They are now part of Watkins Media Ltd. They offer advances and good royalty rates. The contract they offer covers print, eBook, and audio book rights. They currently have one open reading period a year for general submissions. For unagented Black writers, they had ongoing submissions at the time of writing, see their blog post for details. You can read our full review here.
CamCat Books
CamCat Books is a small independent publisher that was founded in 2019. They publish a wide variety of genres including science fiction and fantasy. Learn more here.
AK Press
AK Press is a worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that focuses on publishing and distributing radical left and anarchist literature. They were founded in Scotland in 1990, but are now largely based in Chico, California. Outside of nonfiction they also publish speculative fiction including science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, horror, and mystery works of 25,000 to 55,000 words, under their Black Dawn Imprint, inspired by Octavia Butler. You can learn more about that imprint here.
Baen
Baen is an established publisher of science fiction and fantasy novels. To learn more, read our full review here.
Aethon Books
Aethon Books is a print and eBook publisher that focuses on science fiction and fantasy. They are open to all sub-genres within these genres including hard sci-fi, epic fantasy, space opera, military SF, alt/history, and time travel. You can learn more here
Tor/Forge
Tor/Forge publishes science fiction and fantasy books. They are run by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Tor/Forge is an imprint of Macmillan, one of the big five publishers. Tor is one of the most established science fiction publishers. Read our review here. They are currently closed to submissions, but they are accepting submissions via their Nightfire imprint most summers. Here is our link to their last open call.
Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press is a small British publisher that opened in the 1990s. They specialize in publishing literary supernatural/strange/horror fiction. They are best known for their limited edition hardbacks with distinctive cream covers. They also publish paperbacks and eBooks. The press has won 5 World Fantasy Awards and 1 Bram Stoker Award for horror. Read our full review here.
Quirk Books
This Philadelphia-based press publishes just 25 books a year in a whole range of genres, including children’s books, nonfiction, and science fiction. Unlike most publishers who tackle a large range of topics, Quirk Books has a clear marketing plan and to a certain degree their books have a cohesive feel, because they all are quirky. Read our full review here.
Polis Books
Polis Books is an independent publisher of fiction and nonfiction, founded in 2013. Their focus is on publishing new voices. They are a technologically driven company. They publish print and digital books. Read our full review here.
Stairway Press
Stairway Press publishes and markets literary books in a variety of genres including science, science fiction, short stories, political essays, literary thrillers and adventure books. They are not interested in young adult or children books. Their main focus is quality writing. Although a number of the books I looked at I would not describe as literary, even in the context of genre. Some of what they publish includes work by climate change deniers. Read our full review here. Currently closed to submissions.
Talos Press
Talos Press, an imprint of the independent publisher Skyhorse, accepts unagented submissions of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They have good distribution. Read our full review here.
Tell-Tale Publishing
Tell-Tale Publishing is a small press founded in 2009. They seem to focus primarily on eBooks but also they have print options (largely print on demand). They publish six imprints which include Dahlia (romance, and various romance subgenres), Stargazer (fantasy, steampunk), Nightshade (horror), Casablanca (mystery), Thistle (middle school, YA, new adult), and Deja Vu (reprints for all genres). Read our full review here.
Brother Mockingbird
Brother Mockingbird Publishing is a small independent press committed to discovering writers from the American South, but they are also open to good fiction, regardless of where the author is based. Among many other genres they publish science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Read our full review here.
Future House Publishing
Future House Publishing is an imprint of Familius press, which in turn is an imprint of Workman. Future House focuses on publishing “adult science fiction and fantasy, as well as middle grade adventure books that embrace community, liberty, and family”. All of the work is clean, free of excessive violence. Read our full review here.
Bad Dream Entertainment
Bad Dream Entertainment is a small press that focuses on publishing dark fiction, horror, science fiction, and humor. They were founded in 2013 by Brett Reistroffer. Early on Reistroffer self-published his first book through the press, and he continues to edit the anthologies they publish, but he has branched out since then to publish full-length work by others. Learn more here. They are currently closed to submissions.
Blind Eye Books
Blind Eye Books publishes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance novels featuring LGBTQ protagonists. They are a print publisher and their book covers are beautifully designed and really stand out. The books they have published have won and been nominated for a number of awards, including the Lambda. Read our review here.
Severed Press
Established in 2008, Severed Press is a eBook and print on demand publisher focused on publishing horror and science fiction. They are established and respected within these genres, and the books they publish have excellent genre-appropriate covers. Learn more here.
Berkley
Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House has started having open reading periods a few times a year. They are seeking full-length adult novels in the following genres: romance, women’s fiction, mystery, suspense and thrillers, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. You can learn more here.
Twilight Times
Twilight Times Books is a publisher of nonfiction and fiction, although at the time of publishing this review they are only open to nonfiction. They have a fiction reading period most years during the summer. They were established in January 1999 as an ePublisher, but in 2004 they because a small trade publisher. Their premise is that they want to support and publish mid-list authors. They prefer established authors but have also published a few new authors every year. Learn more here.
Hydra Publications
Hydra Publications is based in Indiana, and should not be confused with Random House’s Hydra imprint, or Hydra House, a Pacific Northwest based publisher of speculative fiction. Hydra Publications started out publishing a wide variety of genres, but now publish mainly speculative fiction, with a few imprints outside of that. Learn more here.
Tiny Fox Press
Founded in 2015 as a collective of writers, Tiny Fox Press originally focused on publishing work by the editors. This is a form of self- publishing, but they have branched out since then, although they are still publishing some books by the editors. They primarily publish science fiction, fantasy, and YA. You can learn more here.
TCK Publishing
They publish a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, although their focus really is nonfiction. To learn more, go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2020 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
